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Gossip

“Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.” Romans 1:28-32

These are consequences of rejecting God. Go through the list again. Besides the awful things of murder and malice there are things we enjoy like gossip, slander, envy, disobeying parents, and boasting.

Let’s dwell on gossip. We have always had opportunities to gossip at work, at teas, bridge parties, cocktail parties, and over the back fence. Later the telephone was invented with the party line. We have had newspapers and magazines. They succeed. There is a great demand for gossip. Listening to gossip is as bad as talking gossip. Now we have chat rooms and blogs. Our need to read and listen to gossip and share gossip is immense. It is great sin. It is one of the results of ignoring God.

“A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.” Proverbs 11:13
“A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.” Proverbs 16:28
“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts.” Proverbs 18:8
“Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.” Proverbs 26:20

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